Tips and tricks for successful wine auctions 

In a recent article, we explained 10 good reasons to bid on iDealwine. Now let’s turn to tips and tricks, you could find useful to succeed in bidding!

Maximum bid function

The advantage of online auctions versus physical ones is of course that that you don’t have to be physically present, but also that you can bid whenever you want to, especially on iDealwine with the maximum bid option. With this system, you can place a maximum bid at any time and thus avoid to connect in the last minutes of the closing. This maximum amount that you are willing to pay for the lot – invisible to other bidders, will be automatically triggered, whenever another bidder tries to exceed the current amount. For example, on a bottle at €20, you place a maximum bid at €32; if someone tries to exceed the €20 bid, it will automatically increase to €23 and will be yours until the bid exceeds your maximum amount of €32, in which case you’ll receive a notification. If nobody bids against you, you get the lot, for the amount of your first bid (here, €20). This service is of course totally confidential and regulated by the auctioneer.

No panic if you are in the opposite position: if you want to bid on a lot with a maximum bid. In this case, the lot will only be yours if you exceed the current maximum bid (of which you will obviously not be able to know the amount in advance). Until then, each time you try to place a new bid, the maximum bidder will just see his bid raise.

Track


There are also many “techniques” to make the most of auctions. Some amateurs prefer to bid only a few minutes before the end of the sale to avoid drawing attention to the lot they want. In that case they can use the tracking option, which will place the desired lot in your account and you will then be able to easily track the bids in a same page.

Be careful, however, for those who love the last-minute technique: plan to bid long enough before the electronic hammer, especially if your Internet connection is slow, and thoroughly check the time to which you are referring to (Paris Time / GMT+2 in summer or GMT+1 in winter). Also, for lots with maximum bids from other amateurs, if you try to exceed their bid at the last second, it may be too short to go through several increments.

Alerts for wines in future sales

If you have not been successful in your recent bids, you can always create an alert on the desired wine and be notified as soon as it is again for sale. With a new auction starting every two weeks and featuring thousands of wines, you might not have to wait too long!

For any further question, or if you have a problem, our customer service, is, of course, at your disposal.

 

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